MONZA, Italy — Daniel Ricciardo says he’s already switched his mindset to thinking about the longer term ahead of his 2019 switch to Renault.
Ricciardo shocked the F1 world by announcing he will leave Red Bull at the end of this season, something which has caused a ripple effect in the driver market. The Australian’s decision will see him move away from a team he has claimed seven victories for — two of which came earlier this year — to one which has not recorded a podium since returning as a fully-fledged team in 2016.
While Renault’s factory team is progressing slowly, the French manufacturer has struggled to provide Red Bull with a competitive or reliable engine in the V6 turbo engine. That has prompted Red Bull to switch across to Honda for 2019.
When asked if he’s had any post-signature blues since signing the deal, Ricciardo said: “No, I don’t. I’m aware that at the moment the structure at Red Bull is stronger. I’ve certainly switched my mindset to a longer term project, to yellow.
“I felt good when I signed it. I feel I know what I’m getting in to.”
The decision caught Red Bull by surprise as his current team had left July’s Hungarian Grand Prix fully expecting him to sign a new contract. Several days later, he called Red Bull chief Helmut Marko to tell him of the decision.
Ricciardo said the first race since the announcement, last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, did not feel much different to others.
“I’m happy to say it was really minimal, minimal awkwardness. On Thursday I was expecting some level whether it was from the team or from the media, but even the press conference was pretty tame and not too many people dug too deep. People seemed respectful and understood it. I had a chance to see Christian and that in the factory before the weekend so I had a chance to address some of the guys then.
“But with the mechanics and everyone they all understood it. I think the main thing for them was it wasn’t personal, it wasn’t because one of the mechanics pissed me off and I was just like ‘right, I’m leaving!’. A lot of people in Formula One, whether it’s drivers, mechanics, engineers, they’ve moved a lot and switched teams so a lot of them could relate. It was really as smooth as I could ask for. It was quite nice to have that level or respect and maturity.”